[OT] Would-be Kavanaugh assassin pleads guilty

I just read this report about the guy who planned to kill Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh in 2022, who has pled guilty rather than going to trial.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/08/politics/brett-kavanaugh-attempted-assassination-plea/index.html
I was really surprised to find that he faces a sentence of 30 years to life, even though he never fired a shot and stopped the attempt of his own volition. By his own admission, he was desperate for psychiatric care at the time of the almost-crime.
If he had simply walked away - rather than calling 911 as his sister advised - no one would ever have known of the attempt (beyond himself and his sister) and he would have been living his life normally. (Hopefully, he would have dealt with the mental health issues as well!)
Putting him in prison for at least 30 years seems rather harsh to me. It would make more sense to put him in a (secure) psychiatric facility until the shrinks pronounced him cured wouldn't it? Or does the government feel it absolutely has to "send a message" that even abortive assassination attempts must be met with very harsh sentences?
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Rhino